It may have been over a year since we saw Gonzo Cosmic issue #1 from Garry Mac but 2014 has brought with it a new focus for both Garry & his Gonzo Cosmic creation.

Having set out his new approach in a Jerry Maguire-style manifesto, his desire to create comics for everyone to read outweighed the drive to make money off the very story he was longing to share….and with that the costs HAD to come down……no printing for an old school hardcopy and a purely digital release this year. Still under his Unthank banner which already releases some great titles that continue but Gonzo Cosmic’s ideas and raw creativity have taken on a whole new meaning after Garry’s revelations. I say revelations when in actual fact it may well have been a eureka moment as that first issue already blew my mind.

So issue 2 became a largely solo affair (with Jim Devlin supplying the colours to the first 9 pages) but writing, art, lettering, the works rests in the hands of Garry himself. A bold move but a strong move considering how consistent the whole issue feels & the same mind blowing content is there as the sci-fi/superhero mash-up expands even further on a whole new universe let alone a whole new world. The ships crew are still on their mission as they’re caught between their home world, their mission & the god-like beings that they interact with along the way.

Their return to Unthank City is met with a celebrity-like hysteria as the issue somehow anchors itself with a very real element to keep this from being TOO far out. A phenomenal mix of BKV’s Saga & 2001 : A Space Odyssey and yet this is still a small press release and THAT is the real success here. Garry’s bold, ballsy move to take on all aspects of the comic himself and to release it on his own terms makes this a far more significant addition to my reading list. Mind-expanding ideas with Garry’s artwork still reaching the heights he set out in issue #1 and multiple layers of detail that you have to examine again and again to make sure you pick them all out. An adventue of a story and an adventure of a read……great work.

Go catch more on this & the other releases on offer over at the Unthank Comics website or on their Facebook page…..I’m away to read these 2 issues again.